Multimeters

Multimeters are incredibly useful when troubleshooting problems with circuits or testing unknown components. You will need to be able to use multimeters to determine continuity, voltage, and resistance in this course.

After watching the video, grab one of our multimeters and read the following pages to learn how to use it:

Continuity - This checks to see if there is an electrical connection between two points. i.e. is the circuit continuous. This can be very useful when trying to understand why a particular circuit is not working.

Resistance - As we've already learned, fixed resistors use a color code to show their value. However, there are a number of different types of variable resistors and it is often necessary to determine the range of resistance values that are available.

Voltage - Measuring voltage can often indicate whether the problem you are having is a problem with the circuit or the programming.

Time to Play

Use a multimeter to measure the value of several resistors

Grab some batteries from the recycle bin and check to see if they are really dead or not

Use the continuity tester on a multimeter to test several objects in the room for electrical conductivity.